5 Euro records that could be broken in the 2016 edition
The club football season is over and as we move into June, all eyes will be drawn to Euro 2016. As the quadrennial summer tournament kicks off in France on 10 June, the 15th edition of Europe’s most prestigious international competition will see 24 teams vie for the title in an all-new format.
With such tournaments that take place only once every four years, the records set by players and teams become that much more difficult to break. Milestones achieved are that much more difficult to surpass while there are also a few records nobody would want to be associated with.
We look at five such records that could be associated with a new player or team by the end of Euro 2016.
1) Top Goalscorer in Euro history
1984 was a truly memorable year for hosts France. They won their first ever title on the back of Michel Platini’s fine performance in the competition as they beat Spain 2-0 in the final in front of nearly 50,000 fans at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
While Platini may have been in the news for the wrong reasons in the past year thanks to the scandals at FIFA, he was making headlines at Euro ‘84 when he scored in each and every game for Les Bleus. In the group stage, he scored against Denmark before grabbing two hat-tricks – against Belgium and Yugoslavia. In the semi-final, Platini scored the winner in extra-time to help France beat Portugal 3-2 before scoring in the final against Spain. In all, he scored 9 goals in the competition.
Surprisingly, 9 goals is the highest goal tally by a player in Euro history. And Platini achieved that feat in just one tournament. He won the Ballon d’Or as a result – the second of three consecutive titles at the time.
In Euro 2016, the active players most capable of surpassing his tally are Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Both players are currently on six goals. With the chance to play a maximum of seven games if a team reaches the final, it is highly possible.
| # | Player | Country | Goals | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michel Platini | France | 9 | 5 |
| 2 | Alan Shearer | England | 7 | 9 |
| 3 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Netherlands | 6 | 8 |
| Patrick Kluivert | Netherlands | 6 | 9 | |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden | 6 | 10 | |
| Thierry Henry | France | 6 | 11 | |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 6 | 14 | |
| Nuno Gomes | Portugal | 6 | 14 |